Hi Gary It takes a couple of hours for a gas fridge to even get circulating 10<!2hrs would be about the norm for an empty fridge from ambient to cold! The recovery rate is also slow ,so best to reload with a small amount of warm products at a time
Just NEVER leave it run ofF any battery unless that battery is being charged by about 12A.
If you have got it nice & cold well stocked,leaving for an hour ortwo without power should not be a problemSucessful 12V opersaion from the vehicle battery requires Heavy cables to ensure the fridge does get at least 12V WHEN SWITCHED ON & OPERATING!!
ThaT a being not correctly installed is why many claim they are no good & do not cool /freeze
I have both Engel & a Electrloux 3way in the motor home AND I would never go ANYWHERE without the 3WAY!!
ps what MODEL is it??
We may be able to advice further if we know that.
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Wednesday 11th of September 2013 08:31:58 PM
GaryKelly said
11:36 PM Sep 11, 2013
G'day, hello and how ya goin? Just wondering how long it takes on average to get a gas fridge from a warm start to cold. I realize a lot depends on ambient temp etc, but let's take an average summerish day of mid to high 20C. There will be times I'm not camped and the car's not running. I might be shopping or off photographing something or whatever. Rather than run the fridge off the battery, I'll put its contents in the Esky with a couple of ice bricks and leave the fridge off until I'm camped for the night or longer. So are we talking an hour or two or what?
bill12 said
11:43 PM Sep 11, 2013
Will take a few hours, I'm afraid. They are not as efficient as the compressor types, and work better in cooler climes.Having a fan blowing heat away from the heat exchange pipes helps.I can freeze things to-18c with the waeco, but it does use a few amps.The gas fridges seem towork beston gas. Bill
johnno02 said
11:11 AM Sep 12, 2013
Hi Gary,
Best advice I can offer is never try to cool an empty fridge,
Turn it on for an hour,or so,load it with Already cold stuff,and that will help keep it cold.
Put your Ice Bricks in first to help it along,their coldness is sacrificed to cool down your fridge,
Thereby,your fridge will get reasonably cold fairly quickly,especially when
already cold stuff is added,IE,the more it is loaded with cold items,the better.
We have a Waeco,TC-35,which is not even a fridge,only a Thermoelectric Cooler,
which we keep on the back seat of the car,this is loaded with a couple of half sheets
of Techni-Ice,when traveling/shopping etc,about an hour before we go,and the drinks/food
stay cold all day.
We can go shopping in the morning,put meat,milk etc in the cooler,come home in the Afternoon
and everything is nice and Chilled,even the 2 little half sheets of Techni Ice are still mostly hard
Please bear in mind the thing is turned off while the car is stopped.
Do exactly the same for our Very old Chescold fridge Freezer,when traveling with it.
John
bill12 said
12:48 PM Sep 12, 2013
Have youtried it on gas? Powering it on an inverter is a no win situation as you will loose converting 12v into 240v,and back in heat. Also, they don't like running on gas when moving. Has anybody had some experience with running on gas while travelling? I hope someone can help. Bill
-- Edited by bill12 on Thursday 12th of September 2013 12:49:29 PM
oldtrack123 said
01:07 PM Sep 12, 2013
bill12 wrote:
Have youtried it on gas? Powering it on an inverter is a no win situation as you will loose converting 12v into 240v,and back in heat. Also, they don't like running on gas when moving. Has anybody had some experience with running on gas while travelling? I hope someone can help. Bill
-- Edited by bill12 on Thursday 12th of September 2013 12:49:29 PM
HI Bill
No problem with running on gas while moving, except for safety factor , mainly when refueling is in progress
However running on gas is not recommended, but again due to possible fires.
Not the abilty to function correctly
But if the fridge is not level, when parked, can cause problems just as for being out of level at ANYTIME stationary
30mins would be about the max I would leave it out of level
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Thursday 12th of September 2013 01:10:25 PM
Dougwe said
03:35 PM Sep 12, 2013
Before I added extra strong cable to the Prado and did the re-wire of the Avan it took about 3 hours on max to get to a usable temp, Garry.
GaryKelly said
07:18 PM Sep 12, 2013
My Electrolux is an oldie, Peter, probably 1980-ish. It's a 2 way, gas and 240V. A mate who worked with those things years ago in Texas said it was the top of the line model in its day. I have an inverter but would prefer not to power the fridge off the battery. Thanks for all the suggestions and info, chaps. The time it takes to cool surprises me, so I can see why pre loading it with cold stuff helps - and not leaving it off for long periods.
I checked the back of the fridge and found that it's been powered by mains most of its life. The gas burner and flue area are clean as a whistle. Even so, I cleaned it with a blast of pressurized air.
bill12 said
09:19 PM Sep 12, 2013
Don,t you think that running it on 12v or 240v thru an inverter will use too many amps? These fridges use 12+ amps on 12v , and probably more using an inverter.I know its an expensive way of doing it, but a 12v compressor fridge freezer is my opinion of the way to go.It depends how hot it gets. My waeco has frozen fish in 35c outside, and uses about 2.5 amps after getting cold. with solar panels , and 2 120amp/hr deepcycle baatterys,it works for me. I am of the opinion that they are more efficient.I suppose its what Gary can afford. Bill
GaryKelly said
05:47 PM Sep 13, 2013
For one thing, I wouldn't have the gas alight while driving. Too dangerous I reckon. And like Peter says, the fridge needs to be level to operate efficiently. In fact, the whole camper needs to be level to stop me falling out of bed, not to mention peeing without making a mess. As to solar panels and batteries, I'm afraid I'll be using what I have for a while - 70W panel and 1 AGM 105ah. Lights, camera batteries and a laptop are all I need... and maybe an hour or so of telly. Can you buy a telly that runs on gas? The fridge will be restricted to gas (unless I stay at a CP). And my fish will be canned or already frozen so no worries there. :)
neilnruth said
11:05 PM Sep 13, 2013
Gary it's also illegal to travel with the gas on. Apart from that, we have found our fridge stays colder running on gas. As another post has said, have the fridge cold, keep it closed while travelling and it will stay cold for quite a few hours. You shouldn't have to use an esky. The more cold/frozen items you have in it the better it will stay cold. We don't have all the bibs and bobs and we have been able to travel and freecamp with ease.
oldtrack123 said
03:48 AM Sep 14, 2013
bill12 wrote:
[1]Don,t you think that running it on 12v or 240v thru an inverter will use too many amps? These fridges use 12+ amps on 12v , and probably more using an inverter.I know its an expensive way of doing it
[2], but a 12v compressor fridge freezer is my opinion of the way to go.It depends how hot it gets
[3]. My waeco has frozen fish in 35c outside, and uses abou 2.5 amps after getting cold. with solar panels , and 2 120amp/hr deepcycle baatterys,it works for me. I am of the opinion that they are more efficient.I suppose its what Gary can afford. Bill
Hi Bill
[1]Yes, you cannot realy run a absoption fridge of fbatteries unless you have LOTS & LOTS of battery capacity & a means of recharging ALL the power they use
[2] a compressor fridge is much more efficient energy wise but still can use a lot of energy over 24hrs,so you need a means o fALWAYS HAVING THAT ENERGY AVAILABLE
Sufficient solar panels ,Battery capacity ,&/or a generato rfor those long days of poor or no sun
[3
I beleive you are saying that the Waeco draws an AVERAGE of2.5Amps
in otherwords 60Amphrs over 24hrs]
bill12 said
05:37 AM Sep 14, 2013
That seems about right. As I have a slide on like Garys, I start the vehicle often, and the 70amp/hr alternator take care of most of it. I get 3 to 5 days, depending on the ambient temp before starting again. The solar has an mppt reg and 2 -80w panels. Works well. Also have 2 kva genset for the sat tv, and charging. I go fishing in some out of the way places , so I like being prepared. Off for 6 weeks early next month. See you on the road, Bill
-- Edited by bill12 on Saturday 14th of September 2013 05:38:48 AM
turbopete said
01:16 PM Sep 18, 2013
Hi Gary I have an old 80L Electrolux ,I had a 12v element fitted with 6bs wire ,i have installed baffles and packed insulation around it and have fitted a fan to help with heat extraction the
Hi Gary
It takes a couple of hours for a gas fridge to even get circulating
10<!2hrs would be about the norm for an empty fridge from ambient to cold!
The recovery rate is also slow ,so best to reload with a small amount of warm products at a time
Just NEVER leave it run ofF any battery unless that battery is being charged by about 12A.
If you have got it nice & cold well stocked,leaving for an hour
ortwo without power should not be a problemSucessful 12V opersaion from the vehicle battery requires Heavy cables to ensure the fridge does get at least 12V WHEN SWITCHED ON & OPERATING!!
ThaT a being not correctly installed is why many claim they are no good & do not cool /freeze
I have both Engel & a Electrloux 3way in the motor home AND I would never go ANYWHERE without the 3WAY!!
ps what MODEL is it??
We may be able to advice further if we know that.
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Wednesday 11th of September 2013 08:31:58 PM
G'day, hello and how ya goin? Just wondering how long it takes on average to get a gas fridge from a warm start to cold. I realize a lot depends on ambient temp etc, but let's take an average summerish day of mid to high 20C. There will be times I'm not camped and the car's not running. I might be shopping or off photographing something or whatever. Rather than run the fridge off the battery, I'll put its contents in the Esky with a couple of ice bricks and leave the fridge off until I'm camped for the night or longer. So are we talking an hour or two or what?
Hi Gary,
Best advice I can offer is never try to cool an empty fridge,
Turn it on for an hour,or so,load it with Already cold stuff,and that will help keep it cold.
Put your Ice Bricks in first to help it along,their coldness is sacrificed to cool down your fridge,
Thereby,your fridge will get reasonably cold fairly quickly,especially when
already cold stuff is added,IE,the more it is loaded with cold items,the better.
We have a Waeco,TC-35,which is not even a fridge,only a Thermoelectric Cooler,
which we keep on the back seat of the car,this is loaded with a couple of half sheets
of Techni-Ice,when traveling/shopping etc,about an hour before we go,and the drinks/food
stay cold all day.
We can go shopping in the morning,put meat,milk etc in the cooler,come home in the Afternoon
and everything is nice and Chilled,even the 2 little half sheets of Techni Ice are still mostly hard
Please bear in mind the thing is turned off while the car is stopped.
Do exactly the same for our Very old Chescold fridge Freezer,when traveling with it.
John
Have youtried it on gas? Powering it on an inverter is a no win situation as you will loose converting 12v into 240v,and back in heat. Also, they don't like running on gas when moving. Has anybody had some experience with running on gas while travelling? I hope someone can help. Bill
-- Edited by bill12 on Thursday 12th of September 2013 12:49:29 PM
HI Bill
No problem with running on gas while moving, except for safety factor , mainly when refueling is in progress
However running on gas is not recommended, but again due to possible fires.
Not the abilty to function correctly
But if the fridge is not level, when parked, can cause problems just as for being out of level at ANYTIME stationary
30mins would be about the max I would leave it out of level
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Thursday 12th of September 2013 01:10:25 PM
I checked the back of the fridge and found that it's been powered by mains most of its life. The gas burner and flue area are clean as a whistle. Even so, I cleaned it with a blast of pressurized air.
Hi Bill
[1]Yes, you cannot realy run a absoption fridge of fbatteries unless you have LOTS & LOTS of battery capacity & a means of recharging ALL the power they use
[2] a compressor fridge is much more efficient energy wise but still can use a lot of energy over 24hrs,so you need a means o fALWAYS HAVING THAT ENERGY AVAILABLE
Sufficient solar panels ,Battery capacity ,&/or a generato rfor those long days of poor or no sun
[3
I beleive you are saying that the Waeco draws an AVERAGE of2.5Amps
in otherwords 60Amphrs over 24hrs]
That seems about right. As I have a slide on like Garys, I start the vehicle often, and the 70amp/hr alternator take care of most of it. I get 3 to 5 days, depending on the ambient temp before starting again. The solar has an mppt reg and 2 -80w panels. Works well. Also have 2 kva genset for the sat tv, and charging. I go fishing in some out of the way places , so I like being prepared. Off for 6 weeks early next month. See you on the road, Bill
-- Edited by bill12 on Saturday 14th of September 2013 05:38:48 AM
fridge works well